PROLOGUE
My name is Roro Kencana. A rather unusual name for this day and age. Not that I mind. My father simply fell hopelessly in love with the name. I have no idea where he got it from, but my parents agreed to give it to their only daughter.
Speaking of my parents, my father’s name is Aditya Soemarsono. Everyone calls him Mr. Aditya. There is nothing particularly special about him, except that he is an archaeologist. A man who seems to love ancient ruins more than his own daughter.
As for my mother, she passed away when I was in my first year of high school. She was a history lecturer. Perhaps that was why she and my father were such a perfect match. They truly loved each other.
Before my mother died, my father wasn’t nearly as obsessed with work as he is now.Nowadays? Don’t even ask.
He often comes home past midnight, covered in dirt from excavation sites. Whenever I spend time with him, he talks endlessly about history, archaeological discoveries, and his dream of living in the past. Honestly, that’s exactly why I grew to dislike anything related to history. That is also why I chose to become a lawyer instead of following in my father’s footsteps.
My career as a lawyer keeps me busy enough to ignore many things. Except my father. Even though we rarely agree on anything, I love him more than anyone else in the world.Well, that’s not important right now.
One of the things I have neglected because of work is marriage.
Come on. What kind of woman needs a husband when she already has money, a successful career, and everything she wants? Besides, with my schedule, taking care of a husband would only become another responsibility.
And I’m only twenty-seven years old. In my opinion, that’s still far too young to get married.Unfortunately, my father doesn’t share that opinion. He doesn’t pressure me often, but whenever he brings up marriage, it still annoys me.
Just like today.
I was trying to enjoy some quality time with him, but he ruined it by bringing up marriage once again.
“I’m not lonely, Dad!” I said for what felt like the thousandth time. “I have plenty of work to keep me busy. Marriage is the last thing on my mind.”
“That only proves you’re lonely,” my father replied while biting into a chicken drumstick. “When your mother was your age, she was already carrying you in her arms. People even said she got married late.”
“The good news is that I don’t care what people think.”
“How about this?” He pointed the drumstick at me. “You want me to stop digging up ruins, right? Then I’ll quit my research... as long as you give me a grandchild.”
I stared at him.
Wait a second.
We had discussed this topic countless times before, but never this seriously.No matter what happened, my father would never sacrifice his research for me. If anything, I was usually the one sacrificing things for his research. So what was going on?
“A grandchild?” I asked carefully. “Do you want me to get a husband, or do you just want a grandchild?”
“How are you supposed to give me a grandchild without a husband?”
“Easy. This is the modern era. Women can have children without getting married.”“Madness!” he exclaimed. “This is exactly why I want to return to the age of kingdoms. People keep abandoning morals and values.”
Uh-oh.
Here we go again.
“Fine. Let’s skip to the point. What do you want, Dad? Where do you need me to take you? I’ll rearrange my schedule.”
“There! That’s exactly the problem!” He complained. “Even spending time with your own father requires a schedule. I’m your father, not one of your clients!”
Believe me, I had heard that line a million times before.
“You’re right. My mistake. I’m sorry.” I gave him the sweetest smile I could manage. “For the next week, I’m all yours. You can order me around as much as you like.”
“That’s my girl!” He took a sip of water before continuing. “I recently met someone. He claims to know the location of a buried Majapahit civilization. According to him, it’s even larger than Borobudur and Prambanan.”
“So where do you need me to take you?” I asked, completely uninterested in the archaeological details.
“Well...” My father suddenly looked unusually pleased. “He promised to show me the location... on one condition.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What condition?”
“He wants to marry you.”
The fried rice I had just swallowed came flying right back out of my mouth.
“DAD! ARE YOU SELLING YOUR OWN DAUGHTER?!”
“Calm down! Calm down!”
“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?!”
“Cana, sweetheart, it’s not what you think.”
“The only thing I’m thinking right now is reporting you to the Human Rights Commission for child exploitation!”
“Listen to me first.” For the first time, my father looked genuinely desperate. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“The young man is handsome,” He said. “And polite. He claims that he resembles Mahapatih Gajah Mada. I really like his personality.”
“Then you marry him!” I pointed at him furiously. “Besides, who would want to marry some ugly old man with a huge belly? That’s exactly how Gajah Mada looks in the history books!”
My father buried his face in both hands. “You haven’t even met him, Cana.”
“He said it himself! He said he looks like Gajah Mada! And according to the history books I’ve read, Gajah Mada looks suspiciously similar to Mohammad Yamin.“I crossed my arms. “I may be late to marriage, but I’m not desperate enough to marry some creepy old grandfather from a soap opera.”
My father looked completely defeated. And honestly? That was his own fault.
“How about this?” he finally said. “Come with me tomorrow. Meet Mada first. After that, you’re free to make your own decision.”
“My decision won’t change.”
“At least meet him first. Then I’ll have a proper reason if I need to reject him.”
“I don’t want to.”
“If you don’t, then you’ll get married this year.”
I froze. That was the first time my father had ever forced me to do anything. I hated it.But what choice did I have?
“Fine,” I said reluctantly. “But if I decide to reject him, you have to respect my decision.”
“Of course.” My father agreed immediately.
